Coin feeder



R- C. RAU

COIN FEEDER Dec. 29, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 27, 1962 llIl INVENTOR. RICHARD C. RAU

ATTORN EYS Dec. 29, 1964 R. c. RAU I 3,163,169

com FEEDER Filed Aug. 27, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG? || IIllllll W i 11w z INVENTOR.

RICHARD c, RAU

ATTO RNEYS United States Patent Ofifice 3,163,169 Patented Dec. 29, 1964- 3,163,169 ODIN FEEDER Richard C. Ran, Mendon, Mass, assignor to Electronic Coin Processing Corp, New York, N.Y., a corporation or" New York Filed Aug. 27, 1962, Ser. No. 219,705 8 Claims. (Cl. 133--1) This invention relates to coin handling and more particularly comprises a new and improved coin feeder which receives coins in bulk and delivers them in a prescribed orientation one at a time to a designated location.

There are many kinds of coin handling equipment which require that coins be delivered to it in a prescribed orientation one at a time so that the equipment can in turn perform such operations as proving, sorting, separating, and packaging. All of the types of equipment suggested, to justify their cost, must be capable of handling large numbers of coins at great speeds, and to operate at the necessary rate feeding devices must be provided which deliver coins to it in excess of that rate.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a device capable of receiving coins in bulk and feeding them rapidly one at a time in a specified orientation to a designated location.

Another important object of this invention is to provide coin handling equipment capable of performing the stated object and which is of relatively simple design and not expensive to fabricate.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a coin feeder which without special tailoring may be used with a wide variety of coin handling equipment.

To accomplish these and other objects, one embodiment of my invention includes a cylindrical housing oriented with its axis slightly inclined to the horizontal and a truncated-cone-shaped rotor rotated eccentrically in the housing with the rotor axis disposed parallel to the axis of the housing. The rotor engages the inner surface of the housing over a small area and in that area an opening is formed in the housing wall into which the coins are move-d by the rotor. The coins to be fed one at a time by the device are poured in bulk into the cylindrical housing and caught up by the rotor and moved toward the opening.

In a second embodiment of this invention a rotating wheel having a hollow rim is partially submerged in a bin containing coins in bulk. The outer surface of the rim is covered with perforations, and air is drawn through the perforations into the hollow rim. The vacuum thus created serves to suck the coins from the bin and hold them on the rim periphery. The coins are carried one at a time on the wheel to a chute disposed adjacent to it.

In another embodiment of this invention coins are directed between a pair of spaced plates through holes formed in one of them, and the plates are rotated causing the coins under the influence of centrifugal force to be thrown to the plate edges. A slot extends tangentially from the plate edges and is sized to receive coins singly in a continuous row from the space between the plates. Conveying means are disposed on the side of the slot, which moves the coins along in single file after they have left the region between the plates.

These and other objects and features of this invention along with its incident advantages will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of several embodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a coin feeder constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the feeder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the feeder shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the feeder shown in FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective View, with parts broken away, of another embodiment of coin feeder constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the feeder shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, of yet another embodiment of coin feeder constructed in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional View of a portion of the feeder shown in FIG. 7.

The embodiment of coin feeder shown in FIGS. 1-4 includes a cylindrical housing it and a frusto-conicalshaped rotor 12 disposed within the housing. The housing 10 is composed of a cylindrical wall 14 and one end wall 16, and the housing is oriented with its axis 18 declining slightly toward the closed end. The cylindrical housing Ml may be supported in any convenient manner in the described orientation, and its upper end 20 may serve as the inlet end through which coins are introduced in bulk. In FIG. 3 a hopper 22 is shown connected to the inlet end 20 of the housing It for just that purpose.

While the housing 10 is stationary, the rotor 12 is supported on axial shaft 24 for rotation about its own axis. The axis of rotation 26 of the rotor 12 is however displaced upwardly and to the left of the housing axis 18 as viewed in FIG. 2 so that the rotor is eccentrically positioned within the housing.

The rotor 12 has a larger diameter at its end 28 adjacent the end wall 16 of housing it and a smaller diameter at end 30 adjacent. the inlet 20 of the housing. The end 28 of the rotor is just slightly spaced from the inner surface of the end wall 16 to avoid any frictional load placed upon the prime mover employed to rotate the shaft 24 carrying the rotor. In FIG. 2 it will be noted that the rotor 12 and more particularly its coneshaped surface 32. adjacent its larger end 28 is in contact with the inner surface 34 of the housing 10 over an appreciable region designated by bracket 36, while the rest of the surface 32 of the rotor is spaced from the inner surface 34 of the housing and forms a passage 38 between them through which coins may pass toward the wall 16.

The rotor 12 is made of a rubber-like material such as polyurethane capable of frictionally engaging a coin pressed against its surface and also capable of distorting somewhat so that it may carry a coin over the inner surface of the housing 10 by virtue of the gripping action of the coin between the rotor surface and the housing inner surface 34.

In FIGS. 2 and 4 the housing 10 is shown provided with a coin slot 4th. The slot 4% may be formed by distorting the cylindrical wall 14 of the housing 10 or may be formed by cutting an opening in the wall 14 and securing to its outer surface an arcuate-shaped plate. The slot 40 is open to the interior of the housing so that the rotor 12 sees the slot 40 throughout substantially its entire height to the slot exit opening 42. The slot 4% terminates in the region 36 of contact between the surface 32 of the rotor and 34 of the housing. To insure movement of the coins through the length of the slot the rubber-like surface of the rotor may be somewhat compressed in the region 36 so that it expands into the slot as it turns in the housing.

In operation the feeder shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 functions as follows: Coins to be sorted are introduced into the housing 10 through the bin 22. The coins reaching the interior of the housing under the influence of gravity will tend to slide on the inner surface 34 of the housing in the direction of arrow 43 toward the larger end of the rotor 12. As the coins pile up in the housing 19 they will accumulate in region A and the uppermost coins in the pile will contact the rotor surface 32. The rotor 12 on shaft 24 may be rotated in the direction of arrow 44 by motor 46 through gears 48 and as it rotates its surface 34 will engage and carry with it the coins from the region A in the housing. The coins caught up on the surface of the rotor will ultimately reach the inlet end 59 of the slot 46 Where the surface 32 of the rotor touches the surface 34 of the housing. Rotation of the rotor will drive the coins which enter the slot 49 in an upwardly direction as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4. As the slot 41 is of a Width capable of receiving coins only one at a time and as its depth gradually increases from a substantially negligible thickness until it is a full thickness of one coin'at the exit end 42, the coins will necessarily leave the slot 46 one at a time. Should coins be overlapped or otherwise interfere with one another as they pass through the slot 40 the shoulder 52 shown in FIG. 4 will engage the leading edge of the inner coin and hold it back and prevent the coins from leaving the slot 40 in the overlapped relationship. Upon leaving the slot 40 through its exit 42 the coins may enter a chute 54 which carries them to the desired destination.

The embodiment of this invention shown in FIGS. and 6 includes a rotating wheel 70 adapted to convey coins from a bin 72 containing coins in bulk to a chute 74 which discharges the coins one at a time in rapid succession. The wheel 70 is provided with a recess 76 about its periphery in which is mounted a U-shaped rhn 78 having a perforated exposed surface 80. The rim 78 with the base 82 of the recess 76 define a continuous passage about the wheel 70 into which air may be drawn through the perforations 84 on the surface 80. A number of radially oriented passages 86 (one shown) communicate with the recess 76 in the wheel, and these passages in turn are connected to the interior of a hollow shaft 88 joined to the wheel hub 90. Thus, a vacuum pump (not shown) may be connected to the hollow shaft 88 to create a low pressure region at the surface 80 of the rim 78 so that coins may be held on the rim as it rotates.

In FIG. 5 the wheel 70 is shown disposed so that its lower portion lies within the bin 72. Gear teeth 92 on the hub 90 are driven by a second gear M on the shaft 96 of motor 98 so that the wheel 70 may be rotated about its axis. When the wheel is rotated in the direction suggested by arrow 1% and a vacuum pump (not shown) is conneeted to the hollow shaft 88, coins will be picked up on the surface 80 of the wheel rim 78 and be conveyed one at a time from the bin 72 to the chute '74 where they are peeled off the rim by the leading edge 102 of the chute. The chute 74 may then feed the coins in single file to any desired location.

It will be recognized that the relatively simple structure shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is capable of extracting coins singly and rapidly from the bin 72 and feeding them as required to any desired location. This operation will continue so long as the bin 72 is filled with coins at least substantially to the height of the lowest point of the rim 78 and the motor 98 is running and a vacuum pump is operatively connected to the shaft 88.

The embodiment of this invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is also designed to feed coins singly, rapidly, and dependably to a desired destination when supplied with coins in bulk. The device includes a housing 120 opened at its top to a stack 122 in turn connected to a funnelshaped bin or hopper 124. A pair of axially aligned shafts 126 and 128 extend through the housing 121), stack 122 and hopper 124, and each of the shafts is independently driven and rotates in opposite directions. For this purpose a pulley 130 is shown connected to the top of 1 shaft 128 and from a belt or other input turns the shaft 128 in the direction suggested by arrow 132. The shaft 128 is shown supported at its lower end in bearings 134 so that the shafts may rotate freely.

The shaft 123 carries a helically wound plate 136 which extends from the top of the shaft within the hopper 124 to the bottom of the stack 122. The helically wound plate 136 acts as a screw feed conveyor, but as is explained below, turns in a direction opposite to that in which the coins are travelling so as to prevent coins in the hopper 124 from feeding too rapidly into the housing 120.

A plate 138 extends across the bottom of the stack 122 and is provided with openings 140 through which coins may drop from the stack into the housing 120.

The housing 120 includes a cylindrical wall 142 and a bottom wall 144 secured together at the flange 146. Immediately above the bottom wall 144 are a pair of spaced horizontal plates 148 and 150 separated a distance just exceeding the thickness of a single coin of the denomination being handled by the feeder. The upper plate 150 is provided with a number of perforations 152 exceeding slightly the diameter of coins being handled by the device and through which openings coins in the housing are permitted to enter between the plates 148 and 150. The large number of openings in the plate 150 permit the coins to pass in volume between the plates. The plates 148 and 156 are mounted on the hub 154 of shaft 126 and rotate with the shaft in the housing. The shaft 126 supported in bearings 15-5 is driven by motor 158 through gears 160 and 162, the latter being mounted on the bottom of shaft 126.

The inclined orientation of the assembly as shown in FIG. 7 coupled with the rotation of the shaft 126 will cause the coins disposed between the plates 148 and 159 to move both by gravity and under the influence of cen trifugal force to the periphery of the housing 120 at the region 164. In FIG. 7 it will be noted that a chute 166 extends generally tangentially from the housing 120 at the region 164, and the chute communicates with the interior of the housing and is aligned at its inlet end 168 with the space between the plates 148 and 150. Thus, as the coins between the plates move to region 164 they may enter the chute 166 through its opening 168. The chute 166 is one coin wide and therefore the coins at region 16 enter the chute 166 in single file.

While the chute 166 may be inclined so as to cause the coins to feed by gravity from the inlet 168 to the chute exit 171 preferably a belt 172 is disposed adjacent to the chute 166 and defines one wall of its interior passage, and the belt is positioned to engage the edge of the coins in the chute to move them from its entrance to the exit. In FIG. 8 it will be noted that the belt 172 is provided with a vertical run 174 which actually defines one side of the slot in chute 166 by virtue of the opening 176 in the side of the chute. The belt 172 moves in the direction suggested by arrow 178 and is supported by a pair of pulleys 180 and 182. Each of the pulleys respectively carries a depending second pulley 184 and 186 engaged by a round belt 188 driven in turn by the drive p lley 190. The pulley 191) is mounted on a shaft which carries a sprocket 192 driven by gear 194 on the shaft 126. Thus, as the motor 158 rotates shaft 126 and the plates carried by it, it also drives the belt 172 which serves to convey coins along the chute 166 to the exit 176.

In FIG. 7 wipers 196 (a pair of which are shown) extend inwardly from the cylindrical Wall 142 of the housing 120 and lie a short distance above the upper plate 150. The wipers 196 are fixed to the wall 142 and serve to spread coins deposited in the housing over the top of the plate 150. Thus, they aid in aligning the coins in the housing with the openings 152 in the upper plate so that they may enter the region between the plates and then pass to the chute 166.

In FIG. 7 it will be noted that the bottom wall 144 of the housing 120 is provided with a number of small openings 193. These openings permit dirt and other foreign particles which find their way into the housing to fall from it and thus provide a self-cleaning action for the feeder.

In operation coins in bulk are dumped into the hopper 124 and by gravity slide into the stack 322. To prevent the coins from jamming the stack and clogging the openings 14-h in the plate 133 at the stack bottom, the helical plate 136 turns in the direction of arrow 132 to effectively spread the coins throughout the height of the stack and lighten their load upon the coins at the bottom of the stack near the openings 140. Therefore, the coins will fall through the opening 144) into the housing 112i and spread out over the rotating plate The wipers 196 will prevent the coins from piling up in one location only and rather causes them to spread out rather evenly over the plate 150 so that they may find their way through the openings 152 and reach the area between the plates 148 and 159. Of course the wipers 3.96 most effectively direct the coins above the plate 15% through the opening 152 at the plate periphery. Centrifugal force and gravity will urge the coins which find their way between the plates to move to region 164 Where they will enter the inlet 168 of the chute 166. The belt 172 which forms one side of the slot within the chute engages the edges of the coins and moves them down the chute to the exit 176. Thus it will be appreciated that the coins may be fed singly to any desired location in rapid succession from a bull; load placed in the hopper.

In the foregoing description and in the accompanying drawings three different feeders are described and shown each capable of receiving coins in quantity and delivering them singly in rapid sequence to any desired location. Ordinarily the feeders are used with bulk coins of a single denomination although it is possible to use them with mixed coins as well. The embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 is obviously capable of feeding in sequence a variety of different sizes of coins without loosing any of its efficiency.

From the foregoing description those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications may be made of each of the embodiments of this invention illustrated without departing from the spirit of my invention. Therefore, I do not intend to limit the scope of my invention to the specific embodiments illustrated and described. Rather, it is my intention that the breadth of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

l. A coin feeder comprising a cylindrical housing oriented With its axis inclined slightly from the horizontal,

a truncated-cone-shaped rotor disposed within the housing with its axis disposed parallel to and upwardly and to the side of the axis of the housing,

said rotor having a yieldable outer surface,

means for rotating the rotor in the housing with the Wider end of the rotor engaging the inner surface of the cylindrical housing towards its lower end,

and a chute formed in the wall of the housing in the region of contact of the rotor and housing,

said chute providing a recess in the inner surface of the housing and an exit for coins in the housing.

2. A coin feeder comprising i a cylindrical housing with its am's oriented slightly inclined from the horizontal,

a uniformly tapered rotor disposed eccentrically in the housing, with its rotor axis disposed parallel to and to the side ofthe axis of the housing,

said rotor contacting the inner surface of the housing on one side of the thicker end of the rotor,

means for rotating the rotor in the housing about the rotor,

and an exit slot formed in the Wall of the housing at the region of contact between the rotor and housing.

3. A feeder as defined in claim 2 further characterized means for introducing coins into the housing on the smaller side of the rotor,

and said rotor being made of rubber-like material.

4. A coin feeder as defined in claim 2 further characterized by said exit slot having a trough-like shape in the wall of the housing and gradually increasing in depth toward its exit end.

5. A coin feeder as defined in claim 2 further characterized by said slot being capable of passing coins only in single file from the housing.

6. A coin feeder as defined in claim 4 further characterized by said rotor turning in the direction of the increasing depth of the slot.

7. A coin feeder comprising a cylindrical housing,

a uniformly tapered rotor disposed in said housing with its axis disposed parallel to but to the side and above the axis of the housing,

means for rotating the rotor about its axis,

said rotor being made of polyurethane and with its larger end engaging the inner surface of the housing over an arcuate section,

and an arcuately-shaped exit slot formed in the inner surface of the housing at the region of contact between the rotor and the housing and gradually increasing in depth to an opening through the Wall,

said arcuate slot being capable of receiving coins singly which are moved in the housing by engagement between the wall and the surface of the rotor.

8. A coin feeder comprising i a cylindrical housing with its axis oriented slightly inclined from the horizontal,

a tapered rotor disposed in the housing, with the rotor axis displaced from the axis of the housing,

said rotor contacting the inner surface of the housing on one side of the thicker end of the rotor,

means for rotating the rotor in the housing about the rotor axis,

and an exit slot formed in the wall of the housing at the region of contact between the rotor and housing.

No references cited. 

8. A COIN FEEDER COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL HOUSING WITH ITS AXIS ORIENTED SLIGHTLY INCLINED FROM THE HORIZONTAL, A TAPERED ROTOR DISPOSED IN THE HOUSING, WITH THE ROTOR AXIS DISPLACED FROM THE AXIS OF THE HOUSING, SAID ROTOR CONTACTING THE INNER SURFACE OF THE HOUSING ON ONE SIDE OF THE THICKER END OF THE ROTOR, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE ROTOR IN THE HOUSING ABOUT THE ROTOR AXIS, AND AN EXIT SLOT FORMED IN THE WALL OF THE HOUSING AT THE REGION OF CONTACT BETWEEN THE ROTOR AND HOUSING. 